Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band

Legendary musician, Ringo Starr, has remained an international name for decades. He is undeniably known for being one of the four Beatles. His career has continued because of his own musical prowess. Age refuses to stop him from performing live alongside his all-star band. The all-star lineup features musicians who pioneered bands of their own that rose to prominence during the seventies and eighties. Including Colin Hay from “Men At Work,” Hamish Stuart from “Average White Band,” Steve Lukather from “Toto,” Warren Ham from “Kansas” and “Toto,” Grammy-award winning drummer and vocalist, Gregg Bissonette, and lastly, multi-instrumentalist and keyboardist, Buck Johnson. Each of them have created a legacy of their own, through their renowned songs and limitless talent. Their spring tour began in Temecula, at Pechanga Resort and Casino, held inside a beautifully-structured live concert venue.

“Thank you! Peace and love, everybody. My name is Ringo, are you ready to rock? Are you ready to have a good time? Are you ready to hear some good music? When the band plays, everybody dance, whenever you want too,” Starr said. The performance began with “Matchbox,” followed by “It Don’t Come Easy.”

“We’re on a roll again! This is our first gig on this tour. It’s great. I want to thank you for being lively and joining in. I want to hand you over to another guy who likes to be lively, and moves in,” Starr chuckled, “let me introduce you to Steve Lukather.” Starr sat at the drum set, relinquishing control over to Lukather.

“Are you guys having a good time so far? That was an old one, let’s see if you remember this one. You can stand up and dance if you want too!” Lukather encouraged, as the band continued with “Rosanna.”

Starr’s all-star band was composed of dependably good musicians, each with a reputation that preceded them. Before people had even taken their seats that evening, audience goers were already speaking about their experiences in hearing them at other venues. The quality of the show was guaranteed. Ham was a multifaceted talent with a spectacular voice. His skills, especially, were exemplified during this number.

“It’s a great honor to be here, to be a part of this wonderful band with our brother, and hero, Ringo Starr. He is the greatest. This is my fourteenth year. I told him he has to kill me to get rid of me. Anyway, I’m going to pass it over to a dear brother from the Average White Band, Hamish Stuart,” Lukather said.

“Hi! How are you doing?” Stuart greeted, followed by thrilled cheers, “that sounds good. It’s great to be here again, with this fabulous band. Okay, here’s something I know you’ve heard, ‘Pick Up The Pieces.’” One of the best among Average White Band’s repertoire, this groovy piece was a grand time for both the crowd and the band members. People clapped to the rhythm while the musicians danced with each other.

“Lets keep it rolling here,” Stuart said, “I’m going to hand you over to this gentleman on my left, a very talented individual, and my one personal choreographer. The man from Men At Work, Mr. Colin Hay!”

“Thank you Hamish. If someone had said to me, 45 years ago, that one day I would be playing in a band with the great Ringo Starr, I would have said, ‘I can picture that.’” They sprung off into “Down Under,” but not without the audience rushing to their feet, and pulling out their phones to record. Hay’s leading vocals sounded identical to the original studio recording, maintaining its strengths all these years later.

“I’m going to do a song that I’ve been doing for a long time,” Starr said, beginning “Boys.”

“Did anyone remember that song? I used to do that one before I joined the band you’re all thinking of,” Starr said, “this next song was written for me. Well, it wasn’t written for me, it was written for himself. A friend of mine, called John. He sang it, and said ‘Hey Ringo. You do this.’ It’s called ‘I’m the Greatest.’” Projected behind the band members were equally befitting imagery–massive stars and peace symbols.

“John didn’t want to sing ‘I’m the Greatest.’ I have no problem with this.” Starr laughed, overhearing a fan close to the stage call out to him, shouting that Starr was the best. “No, I’m the greatest, you’re the best,” Starr answered, before the band dived into their next song, a Beatles classic, “Yellow Submarine.”

“We have come to one of the most musical moments of the night. I’ll be in my dressing room drinking a cup of tea, and the boys are going to play a song that can only be led by Hamish Stuart,” Starr said, while waving goodbye for the time being. True to Starr’s words, Stuart led into the next piece, “Cut The Cake,” which debuted in 1975, while also encouraging those who felt like dancing. One by one, every musician onstage broke out into a stellar solo, shuffling through a melody of various, easily identifiable tunes, with Johnson getting one charged scream right as the song crescendoed. Bissonette and Ham functioned as an unstoppable force during their extended solo, letting the drums go wild in one glorious display. But what was most impressive, was the men cutting back into, and finishing “Cut The Cake,” without any delay.

“I’m coming, stay there,” Starr said, when returning from his dressing room. He smiled, listening to the continuous applause and sporadic shouts from the outer crowd. “Was it musical? Was it magical? That’s good. Anyway–what did you say? These ears are working, you know.” He joked about how he used to hear, when he would come out on stage, high-pitched girls singing how much they loved him. Now, years later, he still hears the same thing, except the voices are baritone, and roughened. Starr was a treasure with impeccable humor. Their selection of music continued with “Octopus’s Garden,” and “The No, No Song.”

Next was “Choose Love,” a piece selected from Starr’s recent country album. It was happily received by the audience, giving people the chance to hear songs from both his past, and his future. Not only was the song upheld by meaningful lyrics, but one could feel the pride Starr had for it when he spoke. While Starr sat back down at the drum set, Hay led into another “Men At Work” song, “Overkill.”

“We come to this part of the show. Since Ringo and I have been dear friends for 14 years now, he knows that I’m working on a piece. It was a college thesis piece of mine that went a little over everyone’s head in 1974. What’s happening with this is that Ringo’s allowed me to test where I think music is going, because it’s a little tiring sometimes. No surprise, I wanna give a little depth, very cerebral. You’ve been listening to a lot of pop music tonight. I want to try something, because I know you’re all really smart people. It’s something I liked to call, ‘Jazz Odyssey Pt. 14,’” Lukather said, cueing in for an eccentric-sounding jazz piece. Only a few notes in, it turned out to be a fake-out, earning a laugh from Lukather and the others.

“See the look on your faces!” he chuckled, “like ‘Sh*t, how long is this one going to go on for?’ Okay, this one you will know.” People did, in fact, know the piece, because it was Toto’s “Africa.” Hearing it performed live was an experience meant to last, a moment in time where the audience danced together with shining smiles on their faces. But it was only made possible by the musicians, each from fabulous bands that made their mark in musical history. Ham’s skills on the saxophone was the cherry on top.

After “Work To Do,” Starr addressed the audience, asking if there were any young girls there. “One, two–like nine of you? This one is for you, and all the other girls. It’s called ‘I Wanna Be Your Man.’”

The third “Men At Work” piece Hay followed up with was “Who Can It Be Now?” He mentioned that he heard the song while he was checking out of the supermarket the other day. Voluntarily, he told the girl who was checking out his items that he wrote that song. But she just asked if he wanted a bag. Giggles rippled across the theater, before Lukather once again took up leadership for the next song. Lukather shared that he recorded their next song when he was 19 years old. It was Toto’s “Hold The Line.”

“Put the lights on, let me have a look. Looking good,” Starr said, looking over the audience, “Alright, I’ll tell you what. I’ve had a great night tonight, I hope you have too. It’s not over, yet I’m standing here with the microphone so I thought I’d tell you. I love it when you all dress up to come to the gig, you’ve all got your best t-shirts on. It’s lovely, says my name on all of it. I could ramble all night, but I won’t because I know you’ve all got money to lose. I wish I had a camera, so I could take a photograph of all of you.” It was the perfect transition into “Photograph,” with “Act Naturally” immediately preceding it.

Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band

Standing before Starr, close to the front of the stage, was an audience member wearing a recreation of his pink Sargent Pepper jacket, during his time with the Beatles in 1967. When it came time for the last few songs, Starr carefully put on the jacket, delighting not only the person who arrived at the show wearing it, but the entire crowd. Starr and the all-star band sang “With a Little Help From My Friends,” before he returned the jacket to them, expressing his appreciation for their support. Lead guitarist of the band “Extreme,” Nuno Bettencourt, also made a surprise appearance, coming up to perform with the band.

“You’ve been a great audience! Peace and love everybody!” Starr said, waving goodbye. He wouldn’t stay offstage for long, quickly returning to sing the finale, “Give Peace A Chance.” With one last, well-earned bow, the fabulous show came to a ceremonious end.

To learn more about what’s coming up next for Starr, his fellow band members, and his most recent music albums, please visit https://www.ringostarr.com/#/.